17/12/09_Farmers running out of time to add land
Published: 17/12/2009
Farmers running out of time to add land
Tasmanian farmers were warned today that their window of opportunity to develop additional agricultural land is quickly closing.
Under a 2006 supplementary agreement to the Regional Forest Agreement between the Australian and Tasmanian Governments, broadscale land conversion has to end by 2015 but sooner if the permanent native forest cover of the state falls below 95 per cent of its 1996 level. That appears to be happening rapidly.
According to the Forest Practices Authority, at June 30 this year only 18,000 hectares of forests remained to be converted before that 95 per cent threshold was reached. But the Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association (TFGA) says that at the current rate of cutting, that area might already be as low as 13,000 ha.
“Both estimates indicate that it is extremely likely that the 95 per cent threshold will be reached well before the 2015 deadline,” TFGA chief executive Chris Oldfield said today.
“The TFGA has never accepted this limitation on conversion to agricultural land,” he said. “We recognise that it is important to maintain a high level of native forest cover in the state, but the onus should be more on forestry rather than farmers to maintain the equilibrium.
“To restrict the development of farms, particularly when we are told we are on the verge of becoming the food bowl of the nation, is nonsense. Australia has a growing population with a growing appetite. Tasmanian farmers don’t see any sign of the demand for food dropping.”
The clearing policy does not apply to clearing of trees for routine infrastructure and management on farms.
It does not apply, for instance, to the construction, operation and maintenance of farm dams, irrigation facilities, drains, storage and processing facilities, permanent fences, access roads or easements and buildings.
Under its own land protection policies and under its various agreements with the Commonwealth, Tasmania leads the world in forest conservation with 47 per cent of its forests permanently protected (including 79 per cent of old growth) and 40 per cent of its total land mass protected.
Contact: Chris Oldfield 0419 309 303